


Hot As Lava {Hiatus}

by deducingontheroof



Series: How Do I YouTube [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Minecraft, Multi, No Angst, YouTube, its happy i swear, jean is famous and sings, marco is a fanboy, they all play minecraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-01-22 00:23:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1569191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deducingontheroof/pseuds/deducingontheroof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco Bodt is a regular guy. He plays video games, hangs out with his friends, and works at a pizza joint. The main difference between him and most people- he's secretly in love with a famous YouTuber. He knows he'll never meet Jean, let alone date him, but that doesn't stop him.<br/>Everything changes when he meets Jean by chance in a game, and Marco learns what deception is as he forges a relationship built on lies. But as long as he gets to be near Jean, he doesn't care what he has to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ohmygodholycrapwhat

**Author's Note:**

> I said I would write a Marco POV  
> I skipped a little so it wasn't excessively repetitive okay future chapters will have more different elements between the two POVs if you wanna read the rest check out jeans POV  
> btw bold is either in the chat or messages

“Okay! Ready now!” Thomas said, voice distorted as he tried to talk around a mouthful of food, “We’re just waiting on you, Mina!”  
“Just a second!” Mina’s voice echoed faintly. She was AFK, looking for her other set of headphones, “I could have sworn they were in the fridge!”  
Marco wasn’t even questioning it at this point. Mina had habits that were more than a little strange. “Umm.. did you check under your bed? Behind your computer tower? In your coat closet? Did you leave them plugged into your iPod?””  
“Uhh… oh. They were with my iPod. Oops!” Mina laughed, “I could have sworn I moved them!”  
“Alright, are we good to play, then?” Thomas asked. Just then, Marco’s room was flooded with loud music blaring from his phone.  
 _‘I might die ‘cause they’re comin’ round_  
 _Burn my house down to the ground’_  
“Hang on a sec, I’m getting a call.” He grabbed his phone and answered it without checking the caller ID, “Hello?  
“Marco! So you finally answered your phone!”  
“Oh, Mom! Sorry, I was at work earlier,” Marco apologized.  
“Oh, it’s fine, I know you work hard,” she dismissed, “So, how are things down in San Diego?”  
“Good, yeah, all good. It’s really warm down here.”  
“That’s good! I wish I could say the same, but it’s freezing right now in London! Oh, by the way, your cousin Hitch says hi!”  
“Tell her I say hi back! Listen, Mom, I’d love to talk, but it’s after 11, and I have to work again tomorrow,” he said regretfully. He felt a bit bad. Although he didn’t directly lie, he just needed to get off the phone to go play Minecraft.  
“I understand, sweetie. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Love you!”  
“Love you too, Mom. Bye now!” He hung up his phone and put his headphones back on.  
“Marco…” Mina began.  
“You put _‘Endermen’_ as your ringtone,” Thomas finished. Marco felt his face heat up.  
“Yeah, it’s really catchy,” he mumbled. Not to mention the fact that he had a huge crush on the creator of the parody song. He was a YouTuber called attackonminecraft, and Marco was a huge fan, both of his Minecraft videos and his parody songs.  
“I know you’re a huge fan of the guy, but there’s something you’re not telling us,” Thomas accused.  
“You’re always watching his videos, when you’re not listening to his songs or talking about him,” Mina said.  
“Not to mention the fact that you run a tumblr blog about him,” Thomas added.  
“The walls of your room are covered in screenshots, posters, and song lyrics.”  
“You changed the backgrounds of your desktop, laptop, and phone to the picture of him you took at that one Survey Team event.”  
“Beep! Beep!” they chirped in unison.  
“What do you mean?” Marco asked in confusion.  
“That was our gaydar going off, Marc,” Mina told.  
“You’ve got it bad, bro,” Thomas said.   
“Wh- what? No! Of course not!” Marco denied vehemently, “He’s a YouTuber. I’ve never met him. I don’t know him. He’s famous, and way out of my league.”  
“Suuuuurrrreee,” Mina agreed sarcastically.  
“Are we going to play now?” Marco asked, desperate to change the subject.  
“No,” Mina yawned, “It’s already 11:30, and I have to work at 7. Another time, maybe.”  
“Yeah, I’m out too. I’ve got a flight to catch,” Thomas said.  
“Oh. Alright, then. Talk to you guys later.”  
“Bye, Margay,” Mina chirped before both of them hung up. Marco groaned and leaned back in his chair. After a short internal debate, he closed Minecraft and went to YouTube. attackonminecraft had posted a new video about a half hour ago, and Marco clicked it.  
The YouTuber’s voice started playing in Marco’s headphones, “Hey, what’s up everyone? Jean here, and I’m doing a solo Hunger Games! I know I usually find someone to play with, whether it be Hanji or Connie or even fucking Jaeger, but today, I’ll just see how I can do on my own.”  
Marco watched all the way to the end of the video, paying close attention to Jean’s strategy. He had been getting better at Hunger Games just from watching Jean’s videos, although he hadn’t played with his friends at all yet. When the video ended, Jean chalking up yet another victory, Marco closed YouTube and logged back into Minecraft. Time to play some Hunger Games.  
He headed onto the Nexus and chose a server at random. While waiting for the game to start, he decided to check who was in the game with him. He hit ‘tab’ and scanned the list.  
 _ohmygodholycrapwhat_  
attackonminecraft was in the game. He was in a game with Jean, his role model and internet crush. Oh god.  
He was so freaked out that he didn’t realize the game had started for a few seconds. He ran off towards the village, planning to grab the chests there before looping back around to the windmills.  
He made it to the village safely, and grabbed the chest from the well. Someone must have messed something up with the chest distribution, because there, in a single chest, was an iron helmet, iron leggings, and an iron axe. Well. He was set. He continued to look through chests, getting some more loot, including some food, a compass, and some decent armor. He began making his way through the trees, looping around to the windmill.  
When he got there, he placed a cake on the ground and quickly ate it, replenishing his hunger. Stupid 1.7 saturation. He hadn’t even gone that far, and he still had lost six hunger bars.  
He turned towards the window and saw a player on top of a tree about 15 blocks from him. Wait. It was attackonminecraft. Oh god. Play it cool. He saw Jean take out his sword and almost panicked. Although it would be an honor to be killed by Jean, it would be even greater to play with him. Marco hastily typed in the chat.  
 **frecklednotch: attackonminecraft wanna team?**  
He waited with bated breath for Jean’s response. He knew that a lot of fans loved to troll, so the odds of teaming were low, but it was worth a shot.  
 **attackonminecraft: sure**  
 **attackonminecraft: dont troll plz**  
Marco grinned happily. He was teaming with Jean. This couldn’t be real.   
**frecklednotch: lol okay**  
Jean hopped down from the tree, and Marco threw him a pair of extra chain leggings to replace his leather ones.  
 **attackonminecraft: thanks**  
 **frecklednotch: np**  
Marco quickly went into his inventory and reorganized, making sure he had food in his hotbar and that his axe and bow were easily accessible. He had 16 arrows, which would come in handy.  
 **attackonminecraft: dont kill cleverglasses**  
 **attackonminecraft: theyre with us**  
 **frecklednotch: okay**  
Of course Marco knew who cleverglasses, or Hanji, was. He made a conscious effort to know everyone who Jean recorded with, especially the other members of the Survey Team, an elite group of Minecrafters that Jean was a part of. Hanji was genderfluid. Marco didn’t care, though; he just liked to make sure that he was using the right pronouns. Anyways, they were the Survey Team’s unofficial consultant on everything building. They were handling most of the building for the Survey Team server, which was being released in a couple of months. And they could be a bit eccentric, but usually in a good way.  
 **cleverglasses: hiiiiiiiiiiii**  
Marco grinned. He could only assume that Hanji was a bit drunk. How Jean was able to record with them, he didn’t know.  
He thought for a moment about their next move. Deathmatch would obviously be better sooner rather than later, and he just happened to have a compass. Time to kill some people.  
 **frecklednotch: i have a compass btw**  
 **frecklednotch: wanna track some people?**  
 **attackonminecraft: good idea lead the way**  
Jean had just praised him. Goal achieved. Life complete.   
“Focus on the game, Marco,” he muttered to himself. He quickly switched the compass into his hotbar and headed in the direction it was pointing, back towards the village he had been in before. As soon as he crossed into the village, the target of the compass changed. There must be two people nearby, He stopped directly in front of one of the houses, where the second guy had to be.  
 **frecklednotch: theres a guy in there and another is nearby**  
 **attackonminecraft: k you two go kill him ill watch for the other guy**  
 **frecklednotch: okay i trust you**  
He wasn’t just saying that because he was a huge fan, either. Usually, he wouldn’t trust someone like that, but Jean was different. Marco genuinely felt like he could trust the other player to watch his back.  
Him and Hanji headed into the house, crouching so they could take him by surprise. They snuck up the stairs, and saw the guy. He was looking in a chest, not paying attention. Marco sprinted forwards, hitting the guy with his axe. When he tried to run, Hanji intercepted, and they ping ponged him back and forth until he was dead.   
The guy literally had nothing but a pair of iron boots. Just iron boots. No food, no weapon, just boots. Well, maybe Hanji picked something up, but all he got was boots.  
 **c0m3atm3br0 was slain by attackonminecraft**  
So, Jean had taken out the other guy. That’s good. At least now they didn’t have to worry about getting snuck up on.  
Him and Hanji headed back outside, where they met up with Jean. Marco dropped his iron boots on the ground for Jean. Sure, he only had gold boots and would have liked the iron, but he couldn’t resist giving them to Jean.  
 **attackonminecraft: no dude theyre yours**  
 **frecklednotch: but i already have better armor than you**  
 **attackonminecraft: u gave me leggings already tho**  
 **frecklednotch: just take them okay**  
 **attackonminecraft: fine but take my chain ones**  
Marco accepted the offered boots, and they waited for Hanji to sort through their inventory. Apparently they had picked up way more than he had. Alright, what was next on the agenda?  
 **frecklednotch: so what now**  
 **cleverglasses: i got two compasses wanna split up and murder peeps?**  
 **attackonminecraft: im down**  
 **frecklednotch: okay everyone get a compass run in opposite directions**  
 **attackonminecraft: when youre done go mid to regroup before dm**  
 **frecklednotch: good luck**  
Marco picked a direction and ran straight until the compass stopped pointing at Jean and started pointing at his target, swagalicious11037.He followed it into an area of the map he didn’t know very well. There were clusters of ore all over the place, and… a volcano? The compass was directing him into it, which didn’t look very safe, but this was the job Jean gave him, and he would deal with his target.  
 **lalalaihateyouall was slain by attackonminecraft**  
Seeing that Jean had already dealt with his target was the final push needed. He headed into the volcano, crouching. The pathway was only one block wide, and it was directly above a pool of lava. If he fell, he was done.  
He spotted his target in the center of the volcano, using- an enchantment table? There was an enchantment table on this map?   
Still crouching, he snuck up behind the player and started chopping them with his axe. They tried to turn and fight, but Marco had the better position, and he managed to force them off the edge and into the lava.  
 **swagalicious11037 tried to swim in lava to escape frecklednotch**  
Well, he had a level, so why not enchant? He thought for a moment about what to enchant, eventually deciding on his bow, because really, you could only get Power with one level, so there weren’t any bad enchantments to get, and he was a good shot, so it was worth it. He enchanted it; Power, as expected.  
 **cleverglasses was slain by MLGPro865**  
Well. That wasn’t good. One of his allies was down, and they were heading into a 2v2 deathmatch. They weren’t in the best situation, but they did have a good chance.  
The deathmatch timer started counting down, and Marco ate some food, ensuring that his hunger was full when they were teleported to spawn.  
He immediately found Jean, and they started sniping the other team. His Power bow proved to be invaluable, and the first of the other two guys was easily dispatched. The second one was slightly smarter, hiding behind a pillar where Marco couldn’t hit him. Jean started heading forward, keeping the guy’s attention as Marco snuck around to the other side, crouching. Jean rushed forward, and the guy ran right to him.   
And then there were two.  
 **attackonminecraft: how do you wanna do this?**  
 **frecklednotch: fistfight?**  
 **attackonminecraft: lets do it**  
Marco tossed his armor on the ground behind him, along with his axe. This was Marco’s chance to prove himself. If he could beat Jean, Hunger Games champion, in a one-on-one fistfight, his life would be complete.  
 **frecklednotch: 3**  
 **frecklednotch: 2**  
 **frecklednotch: 1**  
 **frecklednotch: go**  
Jean charged at him, punching wildly. They both got in some solid hits, though not enough to really do anything at first. They would both occasionally back up to regen before attacking again. Marco was getting a bit low when he saw Jean duck behind a pillar to eat. He quickly rounded the pillar and hit Jean from behind. He had been lower than Marco thought; it only took five hits to kill him.  
 **First Place: frecklednotch**  
 **Second Place: attackonminecraft**  
 **Third Place: MLGPro865**  
 **Map: Shiganshina by humanitysgreatest**  
“I won!” Marco exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my god, I won!”   
He took a huge sip of his coffee, finishing it off. He probably shouldn’t have been drinking coffee at that time of night, but whatever.  
After a few moments debating internally, Marco started typing in the chat.  
 **me- >attackonminecraft: gg wanna play another round?**  
He didn’t expect Jean to respond, but it was worth a try. He got up and quickly ran to his kitchen, pouring another cup of coffee (heavy on the cream and sugar with a sprinkle of chocolate shavings) and grabbing a muffin. When he returned to his computer, there was a message waiting for him.  
 **attackonminecraft- >me: sure wanna skype so its easier?**  
Oh god. Jean wanted to Skype with him. He was suddenly nervous, and, biting his muffin, he responded, hands shaking slightly.  
 **me- >attackonminecraft: okay same as username**  
He finished off his muffin as he waited for the Skype call. Soon enough, his computer pinged, and he answered the call.  
“Uh, is this frecklednotch from the Hunger Games?” Jean asked awkwardly, and Marco grinned. Nice to know he wasn’t the only one bad at actual interaction.  
“Yeah! This is attackonminecraft, right?” He mentally facepalmed. He sounded like an idiot.   
“You can call me Jean, but yeah,” Jean confirmed.  
“I’m Marco. Nice to meet you, Jean!” he introduced.  
“So, let’s play some more. Let’s go… 40?”  
“Alright! Let’s do it!”  
“Oh, just so you know, I’m recording for my YouTube channel. Do you have one, so I can link you in the description?”  
“Oh… no, I don’t,” Marco told lamely, not sure what to say. I’m a huge fan? I’m in love with you? I’m a borderline stalker? “Wait- you’re that attackonminecraft? My friends are huge fans!” Okay, wrong thing to say. Definitely the wrong thing to say.  
“What, and you’re not?” Jean teased.  
“No, I am! I just- don’t like- I mean,” Fix this, Marco! “I don’t spend a lot of time watching videos.” You did not fix it. You made it worse. Whatever. Just play the game.  
The match went by fast, people dying surprisingly fast, considering the size of the map. During deathmatch, Marco told Jean to back off so he could regen, then when Jean was busy messing with his inventory, he snuck up behind the YouTuber and killed him. A dirty trick, but effective.  
“Oh, come on!!!” Jean exploded, “That was cheap!! I was getting food, you jerk!!”  
“You should have seen that coming, Jean!” he said, laughing at Jean’s rage.  
“Dude, not cool!” Jean shouted, then took a deep breath, “Alright, I think I’ll call it there before I destroy something. Make sure to leave a like if you enjoyed, and subscribe if you haven’t already. See you all later.”  
“Are you done playing, then?” Marco asked, disappointed. This had been the best game he had ever played, and he wasn’t ready for it to end.  
“Hell no!” Jean exclaimed, startling him, “ I was just closing the episode so I can post these as separate videos! I’ve got nothing to do for the next few hours and a title to win back!”  
Marco grinned. This was going to be fun.


	2. Le Fanboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco talks to Mina at her work, then plays some more Minecraft with Jean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look at that! I updated when I said I would!  
> In this chapter, they play Lucky Block Walls: http://youtu.be/THrvlYUKzMg  
> Okay I sorta stayed up really late to finish this and it's like 1:30am and I didn't edit it so if there's mistakes that's why

Marco woke up the next morning to the sound of his alarm, which was of course another parody of Jean's.  
 _Yeah, you shouldn't have gone down that far_  
 _Now you're just wandering in the caves below_  
He grabbed his phone, shutting the alarm off. Apparently Mina had texted him at some point while he was asleep.  
 **Mina**  
 **Hey hey hey I'm bored and lonely come to mp?**  
He sighed. He knew that Mina wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed, so there was no point in trying to get out of it.  
 **Be there in 10**  
He quickly got dressed, running a comb through his hair, and grabbed a doughnut from the box on the counter. Wait.  
"Marlow!" he called to his roommate, "Why are there doughnuts?"  
"Don't eat them!" Marlow yelled from the other room, "They're Hitch's!"  
Marco was confused, "Wait, Hitch as in my cousin? She's in England!"  
"She's flying in later today, and she wanted doughnuts, so please, don't eat them or she'll blame me."  
Marco considered his options for a minute. Don't eat the doughnut and go hungry because no way was Mina buying him pizza. Or eat the doughnut and suffer his cousin's wrath.  
He took a bite out of the doughnut, leaving the apartment before Marlow could notice. He headed down the stairs to the bottom floor of the apartment building, then headed across the street to Military Pizza.  
The second he walked in the door, Mina flying tackled him.  
"Maaarrrcccooo!" she shouted, hugging him tightly.  
"Can't... breathe..." he wheezed, and she let him go.  
"Sorry, I keep doing that!" she apologized.  
"It's alright. Why are you lonely, if you don't mind me asking?"  
"My partner didn't show up, so I'm stuck working with Ian until he shows. He said he was coming, but he's still not here," Mina explained, frustrated.  
"I hope he shows up. I know it's really sucky for a person to ditch like that."  
"Thanks for understanding, Marco. Why don't you sit or something and I'll bring you a pizza?" Mina suggested.  
"That's be great. Thanks, Mina," he said, smiling. He slid into the nearest booth and waited for Mina.  
A few minutes later, the door swung open, and several people entered.  
"Jean! Finally!" Mina shouted, running forward and hugging one of the guys who just came in. When she said Jean, she didn't mean...  
Marco covertly glanced towards the door and saw none other than Jean, attackonminecraft, standing next to Mina with two of his friends, Connie and Sasha. He slid lower into his seat. Mina was an idiot! If Jean heard him talking, he'd most likely recognize his voice, and then he'd seem like a creepy stalker. Which he definitely wasn't.  
"Hey, dude." A voice brought him back to his senses, and he looked up to see Jean holding a box, "Mina told me to give this to you." He set the box down on the table.  
"Thanks," Marco said in a fake raspy voice, pretending to cough into his hand. Maybe if he pretended he was sick, Jean wouldn't recognize his voice.  
"Hey... do I know you?" Jean asked suddenly. Abort mission. Plan failed.  
"No, I think I'd remember you if we had," Marco told, subconsciously checking Jean out. He had only seen Jean in person once, and the videos didn't really show how hot Jean really was. The tight shirt he was wearing clung to his abs, although he probably didn't realize it. And the way the sun shone through the window and made the bleached part of Jean's hair sparkle.. yeah, you needed to see him in person to appreciate his glory.  
"Uh... dude, you alright?" Jean asked as Marco realized he had been staring. He blushed deeply.  
"Sorry, I just spaced out. Thanks for the pizza," he said, smiling to try and dissolve some of the tension in the air.  
"Yeah, no problem." Jean turned and walked back towards the kitchen, probably to talk to Mina, and Marco couldn't help but admire the way his jeans hugged his ass.  
 _Stop that, Marco!_ he scolded himself, _You're being creepy again!_  
He picked up the pizza box and quickly left the restaurant, assuming Mina was paying for him. He practically ran home, locked himself in his bedroom, and collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He autonomously picked up a piece of pizza and took a huge bite.  
Well, he had nothing to do, so he turned on his computer, opened YouTube, and clicked on a recent Battledome Jean had posted.  
"Yo! Connie here, with Jean, Erwin, and Petra for another Battledome! We..."  
\---  
Marco had probably been watching YouTube for almost two hours now. It was just after noon, and he had finished that Battledome and watched a few horror maps Jean had played through. He would always do them at 3 AM because it would be dark, he would be tired, and it would maximize the scariness of the maps. He reached for the minifridge sitting next to his desk, extracting a can of Mountain Dew, and was about to click another video when a notification came up on his Skype. Jean had messaged him. _Jean had messaged him._ **Jean had messaged him.** ~~Jean had messaged him.~~   
**attackonminecraft: hey dood u on**  
Okay. Jean wanted to know if he was on. The only reason for that would be if Jean wanted to record with him. Marco quickly typed a response.  
 **frecklednotch: yeah whats up**  
 **attackonminecraft: available to play**  
Jean. Wanted. To. Play. Minecraft. With. Him. This was probably one of the best days of his life.  
 **frecklednotch: sure what are we playing**  
 **attackonminecraft: walls**  
Wait. Unless Jean was referring to playing Walls on a server, which wasn't very fun, considering most people just troll, he was being invited onto Jean's private server.  
 _Stay cool, Marco. It's just Jean's private server. No big deal._  
 **frecklednotch: cool with who**  
 **attackonminecraft: have u heard of thebadasstroll and potatogirl**  
Of course he had. thebadasstroll, Connie, and potatogirl, Sasha. The two people who had been with Jean at Military Pizza earlier. They were Jean's two best friends. Connie was actually the one who got Jean started on YouTube.  
But, of course, he couldn't mention that he knew all this.  
 **frecklednotch: i think my cousin mentioned them**  
To be completely honest, he felt sort of bad about lying, but if concealing his fanboy status got him closer to Jean, it was worth it.  
 **attackonminecraft: so wanna play**  
 **frecklednotch: definitely**  
 **cool ill add u to call when ready**  
 **talk to you soon :)**  
As soon as he sent the message, he plugged in his headset and adjusted his mic. He nervously downed half of his can of Mountain Dew as he waited to be added to the call.  
He didn't have to wait long, and as soon as he was added, he joined the call.  
"Hey, Jean!" he said, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice.  
"Hey, Jean's friend!" Connie responded.  
"Right, I should probably introduce you. Marco, these two clowns are Connie and Sasha. Guys, this is Marco, the only person who can beat me at Hunger Games." Marco blushed at how Jean introduced him. He only beat Jean by using his own strategies against him.  
"Wait- you beat him?! Whoa!" Sasha exclaimed.  
"No one can beat him!" Connie added.  
Marco could see why they were shocked. He had watched every single Hunger Games Jean had ever posted, and last night was the first time he had ever lost.  
Marco couldn't resist jokingly asking, "Does that make me special?"  
"We'll see about that, Freckles," Jean responded in the same tone, "Now, ready to play?"  
Jean put the server IP in the Skype chat, and Marco copied it, opened his Minecraft, and pasted it in.  
As Marco joined the server, he realized that something was different about this Walls map.  
"Connie," Jean started somewhat angrily.  
"Yes, Jean?"Connie responded innocently.  
"Why didn't you mention that we were playing _Lucky Block Walls?!_ " Yep. Jean was mad. He was really bad at Lucky Block. He would maybe have one or two decently lucky blocks, and the rest would be death traps.  
"Cause we knew you'd get all mad, Horse Face," Sasha explained.  
"You know what, shut up, don't call me that, let's just start the recording." Jean was obviously trying really hard to not rage. Usually, he would yell at them. Was he controlling his rage because Marco was there?  
"Alright, 3, 2, 1, hello-" Sasha started.  
"Yo! Connie here! I'm playing the Walls with Sasha, Jean, and a new guy, Marco!"  
"Hey, you stole my intro!" Sasha whined. Marco could picture the pout on her face right now.  
"Whatever! Jean, tell us what's special about this game!" Connie told.  
"Well, apparently we're playing Lucky Block Walls, although neither of these clowns chose to tell me," Jean said, obviously upset.  
"Just go with it! We all know how lucky you are, Jeany!" Sasha mocked. As someone who had watched most, if not all, of Jean's Lucky Block videos, he knew just how unlucky Jean usually was.  
"Come on, let's just play," Jean told, and Marco typed **/fly.** He dropped down into his section of the map, typed **/fly** again to disable it! then realized something. He had never actually played. Lucky Block before, therefore he shouldn't know how to play. He could just pretend that he played before, but a lie was more convincing when it was wrapped in truth. Plus, this would make them underestimate him, and he just might beat Jean again.  
"Uh... guys, can someone please explain how to play?" he requested.  
"Have you not played Lucky Block Walls before?" Connie asked, obviously judging him.  
"Actually... I've never played Lucky Block before. At all," Marco said truthfully.  
"Ha! We've got ourselves a Lucky Block virgin, Con!" Sasha exclaimed. Well, that's one way of looking at it.  
"Like a virgin," Connie and Sasha sang, "Breaking blocks for the very first time!"  
Wait- did they just make that up on the spot? It wasn't a parody, as far as he knew.  
"Guys, leave him alone. It's not his fault," Jean ordered, and Marco's heart leapt in his chest. Jean was defending him! "So basically, it's regular Walls, standard 15 minute build phase, but all gold ore-"  
"And redstone, lapis lazuli, and diamond!" Connie interrupted.  
"That much?" Jean asked incredulously, "Whatever. All gold, redstone, lapis, and diamond has been changed to Lucky Blocks. Death to Lucky Blocks don't count until the first person has died from PVP, and the walls don't drop because they're made of Lucky Blocks. Once build phase ends, you have to break through."  
"Good luck. You're gonna need it," Sasha added. Marco grinned. She had no idea of how much he knew.  
Marco started going through standard resource collecting motions; getting wood, crafting a pickaxe, starting a staircase downwards towards where he would hopefully find a decent amount of Lucky Blocks.  
"So, Marco. You're a special case," Connie told.  
"Am I?" he asked, panicking slightly. What did Connie mean?  
"Yeah, you see, you're the first friend our Jeany made in a long time without us forcing him too," Sasha explained. Marco had to forcibly stop himself from fanboying wildly and flipping his desk over. He was one of the only people Jean had willingly become friends with! It was too much! He couldn't even!  
"Do we really need to go into this right now?" Jean asked, annoyed, then his voice brightened, "Oh, you guys are going down. Just found 5 Lucky Blocks!"  
"Yeah, but knowing you, you'll probably die or something," Connie joked, and Marco was inclined to agree with him. Jean didn't have a good history in regards to luck.  
In the time it was taking Jean to break his blocks, Marco dug into his own vein. It was smaller, only two, but that was alright. He quickly broke them both: Lucky Boots and... the anvil trap. Good thing he had blocks. He quickly blocked the top to prevent the blocks from crushing him, then slowly but surely mined the side of the iron cage.  
"Dammit!" Jean shouted angrily, "Got the water trap!" Marco winced; Jean's voice was very loud in his headset, which had the volume cranked up pretty high.  
"Ow. RIP headphone users," he joked.  
"Sure, laugh it up. It's not like I'm drowning or anything," Jean grumbled.  
 **attackonminecraft drowned**  
 **potatogirl: looooollllll**  
"You actually drowned?! Do you not know how to glitch out of that trap?" Connie mocked.  
"Do you not know how to shut up?" Jean fired back.  
"Buuurrrrnnn," Sasha crowed as Marco dug into a second vein of Lucky Blocks. Hmm. It could be fun to pretend he didn't know how to break them.  
"Okay, so I found some Lucky Blocks. What do I do? Mine them with a pick?" he asked, feigning cluelessness.  
"No, only with a diamond pick, Freckles," Connie lied. Really? He was really trying to troll him. Well, his username was thebadasstroll for a reason.  
"What- really?" he said, pretending to panic.  
"Relax, dude, he's fucking with you. Just break them with your fist," Jean corrected. At least someone was on his side. And that someone happened to be his crush, which was definitely a bonus.  
"Oh, thanks. I was worried for a sec," Marco said, smiling and breaking a block: Lucky Sword! Remembering his act, he said, "Okay, I broke one and got- a Lucky Sword? Is that good?"  
"Dude, that's OP!" Jean told, and Marco could picture his grin.  
"I blame beginner's luck. All I've got is a Rose and some sheep," Sasha whined.  
"Deal with it, Potato Girl. You're just unlucky," Connie teased.  
The game went by quickly, with traps, mobs, and a memorable moment when a sheep jumped into lava, and eventually, time was almost up.  
"By the way, only one minute left, so get ready!" Connie announced. Marco decided to break one last block. It was a mistake. He immediately sprinted away before the Wither he had just spawned noticed him.  
"Uh, guys? We may have a problem," Marco told nervously. He heard Jean facepalm.  
"Really, dude? Are you that unlucky? You had to get the freaking Wither?" Jean complained.  
"Sorry?" Marco apologized weakly.  
"Jean's just being a baby. Dealing with the Wither is part of what makes Lucky Block fun," Sasha reassured.  
"You know what, don't even care anymore," Jean told. Marco headed for the surface, where he had his stuff stored in a chest. He grabbed the useful items from the mess of random items: Lucky Helmet and Lucky Boots, diamond chestplate and leggings, Lucky Sword, regular bow, 23 arrows, 4 Ender pearls, and 5 golden apples. He then headed towards the nearest wall.  
"Okay, everyone spawn yourself a stack of steak," Jean reminded. Marco had completely forgotten about food. He quickly typed **/i steak** before continuing.  
"Alright, times up! You can go kill people now," Connie told. Marco broke through the wall, luckily not getting a trap, and ventured onto whoever's side it was.  
 **thebadasstroll was slain by attackonminecraft**  
Well. That was fast.  
He tuned out Jean and Connie's arguing and focused on sneaking up on Sasha, who for some reason had dumped a bucket of lava into a small hole in the ground and was shifting beside it. Maybe it was some sort of defensive measure?  
"Hey, Marco, let's team up against this jag," Sasha suggested.  
"Sorry, Sasha, but I'm not teaming." He sprinted up behind her without her noticing. "In fact," He hit her with his Lucky Sword and knocked her back into the lava.  
 **potatogirl burned to a crisp while fighting frecklednotch**  
"Nooooooo!" Sasha cried.  
"Looks like it's just you and me now, Freckles," Jean said.  
"Yep. OP sword vs invisibility. It could be anyone's game," Marco said, heading back to his side and shifting with his back to a tree so Jean wouldn't be able to see his nametag or sneak up on him from behind.  
It didn't take long for Jean to find him, but it still took him by surprise when he was suddenly knocked away from the tree and set on fire.  
"You- you sneaky horse!" he exclaimed.  
"Don't call me a horse, I get enough of that from Connie and Sasha. It's annoying. I don't look that much like a horse, do I?" Jean complained, hitting Marco with his sword again.  
"Invisibility is OP!" he whined swinging wildly with his sword. Eventually, he actually hit Jean.  
"The thing about the Lucky Sword, Marco, is that while I have a fire resistance potion on, it doesn't really hurt that much."  
"You have a- what potion don't you have?" he asked exasperatedly. He knew that he was beaten.  
"Well, I actually don't have regen, if that's a relief in any way."  
"Not really."  
He was expecting it when Jean finished him off.  
 **frecklednotch was slain by attackonminecraft**  
"Well, Jean, I don't think any of us saw you winning. Good job, I guess," Sasha said.  
"Yeah, I guess occasionally Horse Face is lucky. Well, this has been Lucky Block Walls with me, Sasha, Jean, and Marco, make sure to like the video and check out everyone's channels in the description. See ya later, everyone," Connie outroed, and everyone left the call, not sticking around for after-game talking. And why would they, really? Connie and Sasha were probably staying with Jean while here in San Diego, so he talked to them plenty, and they had only just met him, so why would they stick around to talk?  
Marco logged out of Minecraft and logged off of his computer.  
"It was an honor to be killed by you, Jean" he whispered quietly.  
He grabbed his phone and checked his messages: new text from Mina.  
 **Mina**  
 **Heyy borrow marlos car and come over now. we gotta meet thomas at the airport**  
Marco hit himself in the head with his phone. He completely forgot that Thomas was flying in today. He quickly responded to Mina's message.  
 **on my way**  
He left his room and grabbed Marlow's keys from the kitchen counter.  
"Hey, Marlow, borrowing your car," he shouted at his roommate, then left the apartment. He got into the car and started driving to Mina's place. Hopefully she wouldn't ask about anything to do with Jean, because she could see through his lies easily. Yeah, this could be dangerous. But whatever. He'd put up with anything just to talk to Jean. This would be a piece of cake.


	3. Everyone Does The Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas arrives, Hitch arrives, Connie and Sasha are annoying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They don't really play anything n this chapter so
> 
> And I'm gonna try to update regularly so if it all goes well, I'll update Jean's POV on Fridays and this fic on Saturdays :D

"Not cool, dude. Not cool," Marlow said, shaking his head as Marco entered the apartment, followed closely by Thomas and Mina. They had just gotten back from the airport, where they had met Thomas, and Marlow was not happy.   
"What'd I do?" Marco asked, honestly clueless.   
"You took my car. You knew that Hitch was flying in from London today, and I needed my car to pick her up," Marlow explained, "Now she's in a cab on her way here, pissed at both of us."  
"Sorry, you never mentioned what time she was getting here. If you would have told me, I would have picked her up when I picked Thomas up," Marco apologized.   
"Whatever. It's too late now," Marlow dismissed, "What's done is done. We have a pissed-off Hitch en route, ETA 5 minutes. I'd pretend you're not here, and I'll take her out to make up for it."  
"Thanks, Marlow," Marco said, smiling, "Right, you guys, let's go sit in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending we don't exist."  
Thomas and Mina followed him into his bedroom, which was a bit of a mess. Random clothing strewn everywhere, recycling bin overflowing with empty Mountain Dew cans, a messy computer setup, a tangle of cords and a power bar near the wall plugin. Marco sat down on his computer chair, and Mina and Thomas fought for space on his bed. Mina beat him pretty quickly, and Thomas shifted down to the floor, disgruntled.   
"So! What's new with the Aussie scene, Thomas?" Mina chirped cheerfully.   
"You know, the same stuff. Watching YouTube, playing Minecraft, the whole shebang," Thomas told.  
"Yeah, same here. Marco? Whatcha been up to these past few days? And don't say 'nothing', I know you too well for that. You've been hiding something," Mina accused, "I mean, I tell you everything! I told you when Jean himself started working at Military Pizza, which, by the way, I can still barely handle! So spill it!"  
"What? No! I'm not- I wouldn't-" Marco protested frantically, then sighed. He was an awful liar. "Okay, I'll tell you. Prepare yourselves to be mind blown. I can hardly believe it myself. I was just-"   
Marco was cut off by the loud sound of the door slamming shut, and an angry female voice.   
"Marlow!!!! Why didn't you come to the airport?!" Hitch demanded.   
Marco could hear Marlow's muffled voice, and he felt sorry for leaving his roommate at the mercy of his cousin. Thankfully, Marlow was one of the only people who could calm Hitch down when she got mad. They'd go out for dinner, Marlow'd talk to her awhile and maybe buy her something, they'd have loud makeup sex, Marco would stay at. Mina's because he was forever scarred after hearing them the first time and never wanted to experience that again, and everything would be fine.   
Soon enough, the door opened and closed again; Hitch and Marlow were gone. Marco breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then turned back to his friends.   
"Okay, about what's been happening. It all started- was it only yesterday? Yesterday night, I was just playing some Hunger Games, when I encountered a certain someone on the server."  
"Ooh, who was it? Samuel? I've heard he plays. Or maybe was it Ness?" Mina asked.   
"Nope. I somehow accidentally found Jean attackonminecraft Kirschtein!" Marco exclaimed, grinning.   
"No way!" Mina shouted.  
"Details, man! Tell us everything!" Thomas demanded.   
"So yeah, first round, I ran into him in a game. He was sooo outgeared, I could have easily killed him. But I didn't, and him, me, and Hanji, who was playing with him, teamed up!" Marco told enthusiastically.  
"Lucky!!!" Mina groaned, "Why does the good stuff happen after I go to bed?"  
"That's just the beginning," Marco grinned, "I won! I beat him in the deathmatch!"   
"No way! He's undefeated!" Thomas exclaimed.   
"He was," Marco corrected, "So, after the round, he private messaged me unexpectedly and asked to play another round. Then he asked for my Skype, and we played, like, a bunch more rounds!"  
"Oh my god!" Mina squealed, "You are, like, the luckiest fanboy in the world, Mar!"  
"Then, this morning, he messages me on Skype and asks me to record with him, Connie, and Sasha!! I played Lucky Block Walls with attackonminecraft, potatogirl, and thebadasstroll!!"  
"Dude, are you joking?! I'm so jealous!" told Thomas.   
They were suddenly interrupted when Marco's Skype ringtone went off on his computer. He spun his chair around and gaped at the screen.   
"Guys, Connie's calling me!!" Marco exclaimed, panicking, "What do I do?!"  
"Answer!!" the two shouted in unison. Checking that his mic and headphones were plugged in, Marco answered the call.   
"Hello?"  
"Yoooo! Dude! You busy right now?" Connie asked enthusiastically.   
"Uh... I've got some friends over-" Marco stopped when they started gesturing at him, mouthing that they'd leave, that this was more important. "Actually, yeah, I'm free."  
"Good, cause it wasn't really a choice anyways! You should come record with us!" Connie told.   
"Uh.. sure! Who's 'us', and what are we playing?"  
"We'll be at my place if you need us, Mar!" Mina chirped, and Marco heard the door close. He was alone to play.   
"Well, us is me, Sash, Ymir, and Christa, and we're sorta just playin' whatever we feel like playin'," Connie explained.   
"Yeah, count me in!"  
"Excellent! I'll add them all to this call, so prepare yourself!"  
A moment later, three more people were in the call, and Marco was almost dying from the amount of famous.  
"Hi! It's nice to meet you! I'm Christa!" Christa chirped.  
"Yo," greeted Ymir, "Name's Ymir."  
"Nice to meet you both! I'm Marco!" he responded.   
"Alright, let's get this show on the road so we can get back to eating Jean's food!" Sasha shouted. Wait- Connie and Sasha are at Jean's place? That would mean- since Marco saw them at Military Pizza earlier, Jean lived nearby. Jean Lived Nearby. JeAn LiVeD nEaRbY.  
"What are we playing first?" Marco asked.   
"We were thinking maybe some Draw My Thing," suggested Christa.   
"Yeah, let's do it," seconded Ymir, daring anyone to argue with Christa.   
"Alright, Draw My Thing it is. Everyone, get on Mineplex, and we'll..."  
\---  
Marco had no idea how long he'd been playing for. It had probably been about two hours. Connie and Sasha had taken a break halfway through to try out an idea for a game they had, but they had returned before long. They had basically spent the past two hours playing various minigames on Mineplex, and Marco had a lot of fun.   
"Right, me and Christa've got plans, so we gotta bounce," told Ymir.   
"Talk to you later, everyone!" Christa chirped, then both girls left the call.  
"Right. I think we've recorded enough for today too," Sasha said, "One more thing before we go. Marco. You're a cool guy, which is surprising because you're Jean's friend."  
"But yeah. Why don't you have a YouTube channel?" Connie asked.   
"Uh... I dunno, I've just never really found the time to set it up. I mean, I've got a mic and Fraps, but I just haven't gotten around to it," explained Marco. He was being completely honest; he really had just never gotten around to it.  
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," said Connie, and Marco felt something change. He had a feeling that Connie and Sasha were planning something, but he had no idea what.   
"Where do you live?" Sasha asked suddenly, "We should all hang out sometime!"  
"Uh, I live in San Diego, how about you two?" Yep. Definitely planning something.   
"We both live in NYC, but right now, we're visiting Jean in... San Diego! What's your address?" Connie demanded.   
"50319 Rose Road, apartment 392," Marco told somewhat nervously. There was a plan here. He wouldn't be surprised if Connie and Sasha showed up at his place.   
Connie and Sasha showed up at his place.   
C o n n i e a n d S a s h a s h o w e d u p a t h i s p l a c e.  
"Right! Okay, talk to you later!" Sasha chirped, then Connie ended the call.   
Marco immediately pulled out his cell phone and called Mina. She picked up within seconds, and Marco assumed that she put it on speaker so that Thomas could hear too.   
"So? What happened with you and famous people?" Mina asked excitedly.   
"Well, for the last two hours, I've been playing on Mineplex with Connie, Sasha, Ymir, and Christa!" Marco told.   
"Lucky!" Thomas moaned, "So much famous!"  
"This is important. It's an emergency. I think Connie and Sasha are coming here!"   
"No!" Mina gasped.   
"Yeah! They were asking me a bunch of questions, and it turns out they're here in San Diego, visiting Jean! They ended the call as soon as I told them my address, and I'm freaking out!"  
"Freaking out?! Do you know how lucky you are?! How many people do you think get the opportunity you have?! You are about to meet two very famous people! Enjoy it!" Thomas told.   
"Yeah, that's why I'm freaking out!" Marco responded, then heard the doorbell go off, "Whoa! That was fast! They're here!"  
"Good luck!" Mina and Thomas said in unison, then hung up. Marco pocketed his phone, then left his bedroom and approached the door. He took a deep breath, then opened the door.  
"Yoooo! You Marco?" Connie asked, grinning like an idiot.  
"Yeah, that's me. You're Connie and Sasha, right? I didn't think you'd actually come here!" Marco said, smiling.  
"Of course we did! That's just what we do!" Sasha said with a grin matching Connie's.   
Marco opened the door all the way, letting them into the slightly messy apartment.   
"Dude, cool place! You live alone?" Connie admired.   
"No, I've got a roommate," Marco corrected.   
"Where's the food?" Sasha wondered.   
"Not, yet, Sash! Remember the plan!" Connie told.   
"Right! Where's your computer?" Sasha asked, switching angles. He was right. There was a plan.   
"In my bedroom," Marco told, pointing to his bedroom door, "But why..." His voice trailed off as Connie and Sasha practically ran into his bedroom.   
"Uh... Marco?" came Sasha's voice, "Why do you have a picture of Jean as your desktop background?"   
Shit.   
"Wait... that's Jean?" Marco said, thinking quickly and feigning surprise, "My friend has been talking about the guy she works with, and as a joke, she changed the background on my phone and my computer to pictures of him. Are you telling me that that's actually Jean?"  
"Yeah, it is! Is your friend Mina?" Sasha asked.   
"You know her?" Marco asked, actually surprised this time.   
"Jean was talking about her earlier," Connie explained, "She's your girlfriend, right?"  
"What?? No!! Why would you think that?!" Marco denied vehemently.   
"Well, Jean said she's got a boyfriend, and you're her best friend," Connie reasoned.  
"No, dude, we're just friends. Besides, I'm gay," Marco told comfortably. He was openly gay, and although he wouldn't bring it up, he had no problem telling people.   
"Oh! That's cool. So, is Jean actually secretly her boyfriend and isn't telling us?" Sasha asked.   
"No, her boyfriend's another friend of mine, Thomas. He lives in Australia, so she doesn't see him very often, but right now, he's in town for a few weeks," Marco explained.   
"Oh, that's cool. Now, let's get back to the plan!" Connie shouted, "Marco, we're making you a YouTube channel!"  
"Wh-what?" Why?" Marco stuttered.   
"Because you're good at playing, and you're funny, and we think you'd be popular," Sasha said.   
On his computer, Connie opened YouTube, then signed Marco out of his personal account. He then clicked 'Create New Account.'  
"Alright, Marco, fill in yo information," ordered Connie, and Marco sighed before bending over the keyboard and filling in the required information.   
\---  
It didn't take long at all to set up his channel. He had used his in-game name, frecklednotch, as his channel name. He had realized halfway through that Connie and Sasha had done this before, when they got Jean started on YouTube. He was thrilled that him and Jean had both started their channels the same way. After they were finished, Connie hijacked Marco's phone and programmed in his, Sasha's, and Jean's numbers. He had Jean's number. This day just kept getting better and better.   
He glanced down at his phone and realized that he had missed a text about five minutes ago.   
**Marlow**  
 **me and hitch are coming back to the apartment. i would recommend not being there when we get there. you wouldnt want any further mental scarring**  
Marco knew exactly what he was talking about. Hitch and Marlow would soon be there, and they would be having sex.   
That was something Marco never ever wanted to hear again. Ever.   
"Guys, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave. My roommate and my cousin are on their way here, and they're sorta... well, they're going to do something I do not want to see," Marco explained apologetically.   
"Oh... they're gonna do the do? Yeah, not something I wanna see," Connie agreed, "Alright, Sash, let's head back to Jean's."  
"Where are you going, Marco? Or are you staying here?" Sasha asked.   
"Oh, god, no. No, I'm going to Mina's," Marco said, then realized something, "Except Thomas is in town. Which means they're probably- damn it."  
"Right, her boyfriend. They're gonna do the do too," Connie said, "Don't worry, Marco! You can come back to Jean's with us!"  
"What?! No! No, I can't just show up without being invited! Jean'll think I'm a stalker or something!" Marco protested.   
"Dude, Jean's out of town," Sasha told.   
"What?" Marco asked, confused, "I thought- when did he leave?"  
"Oh, a couple hours ago," Connie said vaguely, "Now, come on!"  
Connie and Sasha grabbed his arms, not leaving him with a choice, and dragged him outside and onto a bus. Apparently, he was going to Jean's house.   
To Jean's house.   
He. Was. Going. To. Jean's. House.   
Yeah, that day just kept getting better and better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!
> 
> Next chapter: Marco gets to meet some more members of the Survey Team :)


	4. Ramona Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco does a ton of stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm basically apologizing at the start of every chapter. But it was my first week of high school and I was super stressed and just couldn't find time to write. I'm all god now, though, so regular updates, on Fridays, alternating with Jean's POV, I'm rambling, shut up Sam
> 
> Also I wish I was living In San Diego with these two dorks instead of canada right now because it's been snowing for a day. It's fucking summer. The weather fucked up. BUT WHY?!?!?! I CRI EVRI TIM
> 
> They play Trouble in Terrorist town (Garry's mod): http://youtu.be/UoA_h93qpSk  
> Also the building game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C54jry8xdU  
> Btw I didn't check the vids this time so if they are an inaccurate representation of my writing of the game it's because it's late I'm tired I have school tomorrow and I'm lazy

Marco couldn't believe how close he lived to Jean. It took ten minutes on the bus to get there, and Marco knew the area well enough to know that it would take him about twenty minutes to walk.   
"Welcome, young Marco, to La Casa de Jean!" announced Connie, throwing the front door open dramatically.   
"Make yourself at home!" added Sasha, skipping inside. Marco followed slowly, marvelling at his surroundings. Jean lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment, and it was a mess, but it was still really cool. Jean had a plaque hanging on the wall, and upon closer examination, Marco realized it was the plaque YouTube had sent him when he hit 1 million subscribers.   
"So this is Jean's place," Marco said finally, containing his intense fanboy attack.   
"Yep! Now let's record your first video, Marco!" Connie suggesting, "Jean's got a sick guest setup!"  
Marco followed Connie into what he assumed was the guest bedroom. Connie was right; the setup was pretty sick. He sat down at one of the computers.   
"So, what are we playing?" Sasha asked, bouncing over to her laptop, which was set up on the bed.   
"One sec, lemme check Skype," Connie said, "Whoa! I'm popular! Reiner messaged me as soon as I got on!"  
"What'd he say?!" Sasha prompted.   
"He wants to know if we wanna record some TTT," Connie told.   
"Ooh, sounds like fun!" Sasha exclaimed, "Do you know TTT, Marco?"  
"Yeah, it's a Gmod gamemode. I play a lot on community servers," Marco explained.   
"Right, TTT with Reiner and Co. it is!" Connie declared, "Reiner'll add us to the call in a minute. Marco, log into your Gmod account and get ready!"  
Marco complied, opening Skype and Gmod and signing into his accounts. A few minutes later, he was added to the Skype call and answered almost instantly.   
"Yo, dudes!" Connie shouted.   
"What's up?" Reiner asked, "Ready to get rekt?"  
"Ready to be the ones doing the wrecking," Sasha responded, grinning, "Oh, right introductions! Guys, meet Marco. Marco, meet Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie!"  
"Hello, Marco. Nice to meet you," Bertholdt greeted warmly.  
"Same," Marco said, smiling. Inside, he was dying. The number of famous people he had met that day was out of this world. Officially, Annie wasn't part of the Survey Team, but that was only because Levi was really picky about who got to join, and he never liked Annie for some reason.   
"Okay, let's get started!" Sasha cheered.   
After a few minutes of setting stuff up, they were all in the game.  
"Okay, in three, two, one, what's up, dudes! Welcome back to more TTT!" Reiner announced.   
"Trouble in Terrorist Town!" Connie sang out.   
Marco picked up a pistol and a M16, which he was satisfied with. He crouched next to a window, waiting for the 'preparing' stage to be over.   
"We've got a new face with us in Gmod today, don't we?" Sasha said.   
"Yeah, hey everyone, I'm Marco! I'm just starting YouTube, and this is the first video I'm actually recording," Marco told nervously.   
"I'm sure you'll do great," Bertholdt reassured.   
The preparing stage ended, and Marco was shocked to see that he was the traitor first round, along with Annie. He knew her approach was to stay hidden and kill from the shadows, so if he sniped them from the tower he had spawned in, it would be a suitable distraction. Seeing Connie down below, he started shooting.   
"Whoa! I'm being sniped!" Connie yelled.   
"Where you at?" Sasha demanded.   
"By the gray building!"   
"All the buildings are gray!"  
"Who's the detective?" Reiner asked.   
"Meeee!" Sasha announced.   
"Right, let's meet up in front of the office building, then whoever isn't there is the sniper," Reiner told.   
"Guys, I'm still being-" Connie fell silent as Marco killed him. There was a rule where once you were dead, you couldn't talk.  
"Connie? You alive?" Marco asked, feigning innocence and heading down towards the office building. He switched to his pistol so they wouldn't know he had another gun.   
"I'll take that as a 'no'" Bertholdt said in response to Connie's silence, "Anyone see the body?"  
Marco got to the office building, and the only people not present were Connie and Sasha. Marco checked the player list; Sasha was listed as **'Missing in Action.'** Annie must have taken care of her.  
"Okay, Connie and Sasha aren't here. Connie was murdered and Sasha's the detective, so two of us must be traitors," reasoned Annie.  
"Connie could have fake died. He could be the traitor," Marco argued, wondering what her plan was.   
"We need to find Connie's body," Reiner declared. They all headed off in different directions. Marco spotted Annie stealthily following Bertholdt. Leaving it to her, he headed over to where Connie's body was. Scrolling through the traitor menu, he bought the flare gun and quickly burned the body. That dealt with, he headed off in the direction he had seen Reiner heading.   
"No sign of the body," Annie reported. Marco checked the player list; Bertholdt was dead. Just Reiner left now.   
"Me neither," Reiner said, "Bertl? How bout you?"  
Silence.   
"Marco?"  
Marco stayed silent, pretending to be dead.   
"Is it just you and me, Annie?" Reiner asked cautiously.   
"Yes," she confirmed, playing along with Marco's charade. Since he had bought the flare gun, he didn't have enough points to buy the radar, so he resigned himself to running around and looking for Reiner.   
"Reiner," Connie whispered in imitation of a ghost, "This is the ghost of Connie! Don't go that way!"  
"Nooo," Sasha argued in the same voice, "Go that way!"  
Marco spotted Reiner in the hallway ahead of him. He switched back to his M16.  
"How bout neither way?" he suggested, then started shooting. He got in a few head shots from behind, and Reiner never stood a chance.   
**TRAITORS WIN**  
"You weren't dead?!" Reiner exclaimed incredulously.   
"Nope," Marco confirmed, grinning.   
"Nice play," Annie congratulated.   
"Thanks for going along with it," Marco said.   
The round ended, and the next round started, going into the preparing phase. Marco had 30 seconds to get a gun and to get away from people so he wouldn't get insta-killed. He picked up a H.U.G.E. and instantly discarded it. That was probably the worst gun in the game. He picked up a MAC10, which wasn't much better then a H.U.G.E., and a Deagle, which was the second-best gun. If you got a headshot, it was a one-hit kill.  
The round ended, and this time, Marco was innocent.   
"Alright, I'm the detective, no one kill me!" Connie announced.  
Marco saw Connie on the ground below the roof he was perched on, and accidentally ran off the roof and landed in front of him.   
"Whoa, dude! I saw that!" Connie laughed.   
"What-" Annie started, probably asking what happened, but then fell silent.   
"I'm at 49 health, can you put down a health station?" Marco asked, blushing embarrassedly.   
"Yeah, no problem," Connie agreed, throwing down the health station. Marco returned to full health, then stood in front of Connie.   
"I'll be your bodyguard," offered Marco.   
"Okay! You wouldn't be the traitor two rounds in a row, so I trust you!"  
Marco suddenly grew suspicious, "Sasha?"  
No response.   
"Reiner?"  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alive. Annie? You there?"  
Nothing.   
"Bertholdt?" Marco asked.   
"Oh, wait, there's a body in here!" Reiner said.  
 **Reindeer found the body of The Colossal One. They were a traitor!**  
"Bert was a traitor! And Sasha and Annie are dead, which means that- Marco, Reiner's kill on sight!" Connie yelled.   
Marco heard something from the building behind them and the pieces clicked together.   
"C4! There's C4!" he shouted, but it was too late as it exploded, taking both him and Connie out.   
**TRAITORS WIN**  
\---  
They played for a few hours after that. From what Marco understood, when it came to Gmod, they recorded for about three hours a session, and posted it as twenty minute episodes over the course of the next month or so. Eventually, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie logged off, and they moved on to playing some Hunger Games on the Nexus.   
"GG, Marco! You're, like, the next Jean!" Sasha told.   
"I'm not that good," Marco denied.  
"Yeah, you so are," Connie agreed, "Ooh! Levi just messaged me! Anyone up to play The Building Game?"  
"Count me in," Marco responded.   
"Yeah, me too!" Sasha chirped.   
"With us three, that's seven! They're already all set up, so we just gotta join the server and the call!" Connie told Marco the IP, and the three of them logged onto Erwin's private server. A moment later, they were added to the call.   
"Heyyyya!" Hanji greeted.   
"Yo!" Connie said, "Okay, more introductions, get it out of the way. Everyone, Marco. Marco, Erwin, Petra, Hanji, and Levi.   
"Marco! You're the one from the Hunger Games, right? Freckles?" Hanji asked brightly.   
"Yeah, that's me," Marco confirmed. He was a bit embarrassed about the nickname. Jean had called him that, probably because of his username, and apparently Hanji picked up the habit.   
"Nice to meet you, Marco!" Petra said.  
"Let's just start," Levi grumbled.   
"Okay, in 3, 2, 1, hello, everyone. Erwin here for another Building Game! Today I'm playing with Levi, Hanji, Petra, Connie, Sasha, and Marco."  
"Let's get this thing started!" Sasha cheered. Marco thought for a few moments, then used an anvil to rename the piece of paper in his inventory to **'Horse god.'** Completely random, but it could be funny.  
Once everyone had placed their paper in the dispensers, Marco was teleported into the building area. He checked the dispenser; he was to build **'frecKLES!!!!'** Well, he knew who he was following. Hanji really was obsessed with that nickname. Marco picked his blocks; white, pink, brown, and black stained clay, and he started to build.   
"Just to be clear, for those of you wondering, Marco isn't part of the Survey Team, nor will he be any time soon," Levi said.   
"Way to be mean, Levi!" Sasha shouted.  
"Yeah, Marco's great! Don't be mean to him!" Connie added.  
"Guys, it's fine. Levi's right, if we don't clarify that, everyone will be asking in the comments. I'm not joining the Survey Team, I'm just a friend of Connie and Sasha's and they invited me to play," said Marco.   
"A lot of people play with us who aren't part of the Survey Team, and that's perfectly fine. You're welcome to play with us any time, Marco," Petra reassured.  
"Thanks, Petra," Marco said, "I think if you guys don't mind, I'll be a regular face soon enough."  
"No way would we mind!" Hanji exclaimed, "You're great, Freckles!"  
It didn't take long to complete his build; it was simple, a face with a lot of freckles, an arrow pointing to the freckles.   
"Alright, time's up, everyone," Erwin announced.   
"Nooo!! I'm not done!!" wailed Sasha, but it was too late. Erwin had already teleported everyone to the next stage, guessing what the person they were following had built.   
Marco frowned as he looked at the... incredibly complicated and detailed build in front of him. It was obviously meant to be Sauron's tower in Mordor from Lord of the Rings. Hanji really was an incredible builder.   
"Hanji, how'd you have time to build all this?" he marvelled.   
"Ah, ah, ah! No talking about the builds!" Hanji said, "Ask me later!"  
Marco renamed the paper to **'Sauron's tower'** and placed it in the dispenser.   
The rounds moved pretty quickly, Marco completing a mediocre build each time, following Hanji and their insanely good builds. Soon enough, they were done.  
"Well, thanks for watching, everyone! See you next time!" Petra outroed, and Marco stopped his recording.  
"Well," Connie said, yawning, "It's late here in sunny Sani Diego, so we'll be going."  
Marco looked at the clock; it was almost midnight. Whoa. It had gotten late without him realizing it.   
"Adios, amigos!" Sasha shouted, then the three of them left the call. Marco logged out of the guest computer and stretched his arms above his head.  
"Well, Freckles, we've got this room, so you can take Jean's room, if you want," told Connie.  
"Oh, no, I couldn't invade Jean's privacy," Marco protested, "I think I'll just sleep on the couch."  
"Okay! Well, night!" Sasha said. Marco left the room, closing the door behind him, and settled down on the couch. It was summer in San Diego, so he didn't need a blanket, and he propped his head up with one of the couch pillows. Soon enough, he drifted off to sleep.   
\---  
"Rise and shine, Freckles!" Sasha shouted, waking him up.   
"What time is it?" Marco mumbled.  
"It's almost 8AM!" Connie told.   
"Too early." Marco shoved his face under the pillow and tried to go back to sleep.   
"Nope! Not happening!" Sasha pulled the pillow away, and, despite Marco's best efforts, the two pushed him off the couch.   
"Alright, alright, I'm up," Marco yawned, "So, why did you wake me up?"  
"Do you know about the Survey Team event next month?" Sasha questioned.   
"No, I don't. Is there one?" Marco asked, genuinely surprised.  
"Well, there is one, and everyone's flying in for it. Some people aren't coming till, like, the week of the event, but some people, like us, are flying in now and spending some time in Cali!" Connie explained, "So, we've got to fetch Ymir and Christa from the airport!"  
Marco nodded, "Alright, I'll come along. Do you have a car?"  
"Ehh..." Sasha mumbled.  
"We didn't think that far ahead," Connie admitted.   
"That's alright, I've got the spare key to Mina's car. We can borrow it," said Marco, "She lives just around the corner from my place, so let's go."  
"Yay, Freckles!" cheered Sasha.   
The two followed him out the door and down the street towards his apartment. Mina lived in the apartment building two blocks down, and they all had designated parking spots in an underground parkade, which is where they were headed. Marco paused outside her car to shoot her a text, knowing she wouldn't be awake to argue this early.   
**Marco**  
 **btw we borrowed your car <3**  
Marco unlocked the car, and they all got in. It was about a twenty minute drive to the airport, throughout which Connie and Sasha continuously poked him and asked him if they were there yet. Marco was thoroughly exhausted when they finally got to the airport.   
Sasha checked her phone, "Right! They landed, like, twenty minutes ago! They're hanging at the food court!"  
Marco led the way through the airport, and when they got to the food court, they spotted Ymir and Christa holding hands while eating fast food of some form.   
"Ramona Flowers, I'm in lesbians with you!" Connie jokingly called from across the food court. When the two of them (and everyone else within 50 feet) turned, Sasha and Connie both grinned and waved like idiots. Ymir visibly facepalmed before grabbing both her and Christa's bags and walking over to them.   
"Really?!" Ymir said once they were close enough, "You're gonna pull out the Scott Pilgrim reference insanely loudly in the middle of the food court at the fucking _airport_?!"  
"Bingo!" confirmed Connie, flashing a thumbs-up.  
Ymir sighed, "You know what, whatever. I don't even care. Do whatever."  
"Are you possibly Marco?" Christa asked, trying to relieve the tension.  
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Marco answered.   
"Well, your username is frecklednotch, and you have a lot of freckles." Christa smiled warmly, and Marco couldn't stop himself from smiling as well. Christa seemed to have that effect on people.   
"Yeah, we call him Freckles!" Connie told.  
"So, where are you guys staying?" Sasha asked brightly.   
"Eh, we figured we'd just stay with Jean," Ymir told.   
"Uh oh! Problem!" Connie shouted.   
"Connie and Sasha are staying with Jean," Marco explained.   
"Shit!" Ymir cursed.   
"It's okay, Ymir, we can just stay in a hotel," Christa reasoned.   
"I don't want to stay in some hotel with shitty internet and bedbugs for a month!" Ymir argued, "There has to be another option."  
"Umm... you two could stay with me for a bit," Marco offered, "I mean, there's an extra room at my apartment, and I don't mind."  
"That would be fantastic! Thanks so much, Marco!" Christa said, beaming.   
"Yeah, thanks, Freckles," Ymir added. Great. The nickname was spreading. Was it his destiny to be known as Freckles? Just because of some spots on his face and a username he thought was creative? Oh well. It could be worse.   
"Alright, everyone, to Marco's friend's car!" cheered Sasha, running ahead.   
"Hey! No fair!" Connie shouted, chasing after her.   
Marco sighed, "Are they always like this?"  
"Yeah," Ymir responded.   
"Oh! I can carry something, if you want," he offered.   
"Yeah, thanks," Ymir said, handing him one of the several suitcases she was carrying. He accepted the bag, and they made their way to Mina's car.   
Marco facepalmed, "I'm an idiot! There's only four seats in the car! Thomas took one out last time he was here for 'science' and never put it back."  
"It's fine, Christa can sit on my lap," Ymir told.   
"Alright," Marco agreed somewhat reluctantly, "Hitch and Marlow should be done by now, so we'll head back to my place."  
"Yay!!" Sasha cheered.   
"Onwards!" Connie shouted, "To Marco's apartment!"  
Once again, it was a short and uneventful ride. The only thing that had changed was the pair of girls being all couple-y and making out the entire way. Marco shipped Christa and Ymir so much, and they hadn't told the fans they were dating yet. It took all the self-control Marco had to not scream in happiness at his ship.   
They got to Mina's place and dropped off her car. Marco could feel his phone buzzing. He knew it was Mina with questions, so he ignored her for now.   
"Right! We'll head back to Jean's now!" Connie chirped.   
"See you later, my lovely queers!" Sasha said, then the two of them ran away, pushing each other and racing.   
"Is that all we are now?" Marco joked.   
"They're just jealous of our mystical homosexual powers," Ymir answered, cracking a smile.   
"Totally. They'll go be boring while we barf rainbows," Marco said, grinning.   
"Just to be sure, Marco, are you gay? I mean, you're hinting at it, but-" Christa asked nervously.   
"Yep, I'm full homo. Always have been, always will be," Marco confirmed, "So, my place is just around the corner. Follow me."  
Marco picked up a couple of the bags, and Ymir grabbed the rest. They headed up the street and around the corner to Marco's apartment. Once they were inside, Marco showed them to the guest room, depositing the bags on the bed.  
"Thanks again for letting us stay, Freckles," Ymir said again.   
"It's really no trouble." Marco smiled, "If you need me, I'm the door directly to your left. See you later."  
Marco left the room and returned to his own, popping his headphones over his ears. He would probably mess around on Mineplex for awhile, get some solo stuff recorded before jumping into some more games with the Survey Team. He joined Mineplex and began to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions? Feedback? Suggestions? Stuff you wanna see? Leave a comment!
> 
> Next chapter: I honestly have no fucking clue yet so cut me some slack
> 
>  
> 
> Important! Me and my friend UltimateProtagonistNerd (who has a pseud called CleverGlasses <3) have posted several of the parodies written by members of the survey team, namely Eren and Jean! You can find mine on my profile, and theirs on their cleverglasses pseud! I do recommend checking theirs out, they are REALLY great at making parodys. <3 I would link to stuff, but as I said, I'm tired and lazy. I'll probs link it next chapter, but til then, check it out!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think, I always want to hear feedback! <3


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